Job 9

1Then Job answered:

2“Yes, I know that it is so, but how can a mortal be righteous before God?

3If one wished to contend with God, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

4God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?

5He moves mountains without their knowledge and overturns them in His anger.

6He shakes the earth from its place, so that its foundations tremble.

7He commands the sun not to shine; He seals off the stars.

8He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.

9He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

10He does great things beyond searching out, and wonders without number.

11Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him; were He to move, I would not recognize Him.

12If He takes away, who can stop Him? Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’

13God does not restrain His anger; the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.

14How then can I answer Him or choose my arguments against Him?

15For even if I were right, I could not answer. I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

16If I summoned Him and He answered me, I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

17For He would crush me with a tempest and multiply my wounds without cause.

18He does not let me catch my breath, but overwhelms me with bitterness.

19If it is a matter of strength, He is indeed mighty! If it is a matter of justice, who can summon Him?

20Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me; if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.

21Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life.

22It is all the same, and so I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

23When the scourge brings sudden death, He mocks the despair of the innocent.

24The earth is given into the hand of the wicked; He blindfolds its judges. If it is not He, then who is it?

25My days are swifter than a runner; they flee without seeing good.

26They sweep by like boats of papyrus, like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

27If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint and change my expression and smile,’

28I would still dread all my sufferings; I know that You will not acquit me.

29Since I am already found guilty, why should I labor in vain?

30If I should wash myself with snow and cleanse my hands with lye,

31then You would plunge me into the pit, and even my own clothes would despise me.

32For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him, that we can take each other to court.

33Nor is there a mediator between us, to lay his hand upon us both.

34Let Him remove His rod from me, so that His terror will no longer frighten me.

35Then I would speak without fear of Him. But as it is, I am on my own.

1For the choirmaster. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A Psalm of David. I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will recount all Your wonders.

2I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

3When my enemies retreat, they stumble and perish before You.

4For You have upheld my just cause; You sit on Your throne judging righteously.

5You have rebuked the nations; You have destroyed the wicked; You have erased their name forever and ever.

6The enemy has come to eternal ruin, and You have uprooted their cities; the very memory of them has vanished.

7But the LORD abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment.

8He judges the world with justice; He governs the people with equity.

9The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.

10Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

11Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion; proclaim His deeds among the nations.

12For the Avenger of bloodshed remembers; He does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

13Be merciful to me, O LORD; see how my enemies afflict me! Lift me up from the gates of death,

14that I may declare all Your praises—that within the gates of Daughter Zion I may rejoice in Your salvation.

15The nations have fallen into a pit of their making; their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

16The LORD is known by the justice He brings; the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands. Higgaion Selah

17The wicked will return to Sheol—all the nations who forget God.

18For the needy will not always be forgotten; nor the hope of the oppressed forever dashed.

19Rise up, O LORD, do not let man prevail; let the nations be judged in Your presence.

20Lay terror upon them, O LORD; let the nations know they are but men. Selah